by Sylv » Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:15 am
It was indeed pretty wet! At just after 5pm it was still sunny with dark clouds in the distance but that didn't look like they were coming towards us given the wind direction (visible on the big flag at Parliament), so I was still undecided whether to risk Palace or ride to Hillingdon. Shorty after quarter past the weather suddenly turned for the worse and within minutes the worst storm I have witnessed here was upon us. From the 26th floor and with a 360 degrees view it was pretty impressive, hail and lightning strikes. I have seen the TV footage of Brixton since, and that was impressive too.
At 5.30 it looked like it was over so I set off for Hillingdon, which George who was there already assured me was still dry. It didn't rain until the last few miles when I had to put the waterproof on. Once there though, and five minutes before the start the sky was at it again and we all hid in the changing rooms/toilets/signing room during another big downpour. Still we started the race albeit a few minutes late when it had calmed down. We were warned to beware of the snails on the track!
In a nutshell the race was busy (50+ riders?) fast (27mph), wet (I lost my clear-lens glasses at the 4-up, and in times couldn't see a thing with that much water and grit in my eyes) and hard at times. George was ahead of me most of the time, and Matt D showed himself toward the front. George pushed the pace towards the end but unfortunately flatted with 3 to go. Ended in a bunch sprint which I misjudged, being too far back and boxed in, a bit of riding in the grass wasn't enough to gain enough places to make it in the top 10, maybe top 15.
It wasn't over though as we chainganged our way back, leaving Matt at Wandsworth and stopping for another puncture from George (he must be getting his tubes at Mosquitos) - when I got home I still had almost 22mph average, with 73 miles clocked in the day. As George always says, it was all "good training" - but training for what??